Pay Per Click (PPC) or Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
When it comes to search engine marketing (SEM) stage of a website build, choosing the right sort of SEM is important, there are generally 2 variations the website owner can choose from. These are PPC (pay per click) and SEO (search engine optimisation). Both options cost money but the important thing to weigh up is what will it cost you in the long run and will it make you a good enough profit to fund itself at least.
PPC
Pay per click has many benefits to a website owner who is after a quick profit and are willing to pay the cost, as PPC can be very competitive (as can SEO) depending on your keyword or key phrases. PPC involves bidding on the desired keywords in order for your advert to be placed on websites or search results with relevant content. You then you pay each time someone clicks your advert. Some of the benefits of PPC include:
- Website does not normally need any changes to be made to it
- You can choose what page URL the user is taken to (maybe to a specific product)
- The results can be quick and you can see results within hours
- You only pay for the clicks your advert generates (meaning if you get no clicks you pay nothing)
- Providing you have a high enough budget you could get a big amount of clicks from the advert
Although PPC is very beneficial it can also pose a drawback as the more competitive keywords may be much harder to get results for, as there are companies willing to pay big money for them clicks. The results for PPC are short term, once you stop paying you won’t be shown in the adverts list, meaning your website goes back to where it was.
SEO
Search engine optimisation takes off where PPC ends, most of the time search engine optimisation involves changing quite a few things on the website. From the way the navigation is coded up, to content within the site itself. Although this may sound a rigorous task, it is beneficial in the long run as getting higher results in the search engines will last longer, in order for your website to loose rankings your competitors must edit their website.
- You only pay for the SEO process, you do not need to pay for clicks from search engines etc
- People are more likely to click your link as it is in the search results. Most people will trust the search results over the paid adverts
- The results of the SEO can last a lot longer, due to content and correctly maintained META tags
The only problem people seem to have with SEO is the length of time it can take to achieve the results. However having an effective SEO will ensure the job is done as quickly as possible achieving the highest possible results for your keywords. In the long run SEO can often be cheaper than PPC due to the constant payment of clicks while using PPC, whereas more often than not for SEO you will pay an upfront cost or monthly cost.
I hope this article has been beneficial as choosing the correct SEM strategy to suit your needs can greatly increase website traffic and that all important profit. Although I feel both options are extremely beneficial I feel using an SEO is a better way of getting and maintaining the traffic, mainly due to the results being long lasting and more cost effective in the long run.
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